E.g., 12/05/2023
E.g., 12/05/2023
Immigration Policy & Law

Immigration Policy & Law

Civil Liberties
Comprehensive Immigration Reform
DREAM Act/Deferred Action
Employment-Based Immigration
Family Reunification
Integration Policy
International Students
Legalization/Regularization
Selection Systems
Visa Policy
_ImmigrationPolicy+Law

Immigration legislative and administrative policies, legal statutes and court decisions, and regulations collectively shape nations' immigration systems—from visa allotments and immigrant-selection mechanisms to immigrant integration programs, border controls, and more. As international migration has increased in size and spread and as a number of nations are more flexibly adjusting their immigration systems, the research offered here examines the many permutations of immigration policy and law, often with a comparative lens.

Recent Activity

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Reports
August 2018
Shifting Tides: Radical-Right Populism and Immigration Policy in Europe and the United States
By  Martin A. Schain
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Articles
July 25, 2018
For Vulnerable Immigrant Children, A Longstanding Path to Protection Narrows
By Austin Rose
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Reports
July 2018
U.S. Immigration Policy under Trump: Deep Changes and Lasting Impacts
By  Sarah Pierce, Jessica Bolter and Andrew Selee
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Articles
July 18, 2018
A South American Migration Crisis: Venezuelan Outflows Test Neighbors' Hospitality
By Luisa Feline Freier and Nicolas Parent
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Multimedia
July 12, 2018
Cambios en el Panorama de Control Migratorio Interno Durante la Administración Trump
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Reports
July 2018
A Needed Evidence Revolution: Using Cost-Benefit Analysis to Improve Refugee Integration Programming
By  Meghan Benton and Paul Diegert
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Reports
July 2018
The Impact of Populist Radical-Right Parties on Immigration Policy Agendas: A Look at the Netherlands
By  Tjitske Akkerman
Travel ban protest at the Supreme Court
Articles
June 29, 2018
In Upholding Travel Ban, Supreme Court Endorses Presidential Authority While Leaving Door Open for Future Challenges
By Muzaffar Chishti, Sarah Pierce, and Laura Plata

Pages

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Policy Briefs
October 2008
Managing Temporary Migration: Lessons from the Philippine Model
By  Dovelyn Rannveig Mendoza
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Reports
October 2008
Regulating Immigration at the State Level: Highlights from the Database of 2007 State Immigration Legislation and the Methodology
By  Laureen Laglagaron and Cristina Rodríguez
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Reports
October 2008
Demographic Trends in Mexico: The Implications for Skilled Migration
By  Elena Zúñiga and Miguel Molina
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Reports
October 2008
Uneven Progress: The Employment Pathways of Skilled Immigrants in the United States
By  Jeanne Batalova, Michael Fix and Peter A. Creticos
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Policy Briefs
September 2008
High Stakes, More Meaning: An Overview of the Process of Redesigning the U.S. Citizenship Test
By  Laureen Laglagaron
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Policy Briefs
September 2008
Learning by Doing: Experiences of Circular Migration
By  Kathleen Newland, Dovelyn Rannveig Mendoza and Aaron Terrazas
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Reports
April 2008
Stakeholder Citizenship: An Idea Whose Time Has Come?
By  Rainer Bauböck
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Reports
April 2008
The Complexities of Immigration: Why Western Countries Struggle with Immigration Politics and Policies
By  Jennifer Hochschild and John Mollenkopf

Pages

Feature
March 1, 2007
Women Migrants in Transit and Detention in Mexico

Since 2000, Mexico has further intensified efforts to detain and deport irregular migrants. Gabriela Diaz and Gretchen Kuhner investigate the experiences of women migrants, the majority of them from Latin America, who have been detained in Mexico en route to the United States.

Feature
January 1, 2007
EU Enlargement in 2007: No Warm Welcome for Labor Migrants

The addition of Romania and Bulgaria to the European Union means another round of anxieties about labor migrants. Catherine Drew and Dhananjayan Sriskandarajah of the Institute for Public Policy Research in London explain how this enlargement is different from the historic one in 2004 and why most EU Member States favor temporary restriction.

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Feature
May 1, 2006
American Immigration Reform from a Scandinavian Perspective
After watching the immigration reform debate intensify in the last few months, Thor Arne Aaas, Norway's Director General of the Department of Migration and a Visiting Fellow at MPI, characterizes the debate as "unfocused, unstructured, and very emotional." More on his views in this interview with Migration Information Source Editor Kirin Kalia.
Feature
May 1, 2006
Immigration Reform and the Catholic Church

The Catholic Church made headlines in March when of its U.S. cardinals spoke out against the House of Representatives' "enforcement only" bill. Donald Kerwin of the Catholic Legal Immigration Network explains the church's interest in immigration and its position on reforming immigration policy.

Feature
September 1, 2005
Solving the Unauthorized Migrant Problem: Proposed Legislation in the U.S.

In the most recent session of Congress, four legislative proposals addressing unauthorized immigration and general immigration reform have been introduced. MPI's Eliot Turner and Marc R. Rosenblum compare their provisions for enforcement, employer sanctions, legalization, and guest worker programs.

Pages

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Recent Activity

Reports
August 2018

Shifting Tides: Radical-Right Populism and Immigration Policy in Europe and the United States

Even as populist radical-right parties have experienced mixed electoral success, their ideas have gained traction in Europe and the United States. This report analyzes the economic, political, and social factors behind the rise in support for the radical-right agenda, and the impact of this trend on immigration policymaking and the broader political landscape on both sides of the Atlantic.

Articles
July 25, 2018

For Vulnerable Immigrant Children, A Longstanding Path to Protection Narrows

Since fiscal year 2010, more than 70,000 immigrant children have applied for Special Immigrant Juvenile (SIJ) status, a pathway to a green card for youth who have been abused or neglected by their parents. Based on interviews with SIJ applicants, judges, and attorneys, this article provides an overview of the SIJ program and identifies limitations on access.

Reports
July 2018

U.S. Immigration Policy under Trump: Deep Changes and Lasting Impacts

President Trump has made reshaping the U.S. immigration system a top priority. Yet the fragmented nature of policy-making in the United States—with power split between branches and levels of government—has made it difficult to pursue some of his most ambitious proposals. This report explores the evolution of migration policy under Trump, and what these changes may mean in the long run.

Articles
July 18, 2018

A South American Migration Crisis: Venezuelan Outflows Test Neighbors' Hospitality

The deepening of Venezuela's social, economic, and political implosion has resulted in the fastest movement of people across borders in Latin American history. Neighboring countries have responded with a patchwork of policy measures, though the scale and growing diversity of Venezuelan arrivals have challenged regional actors, as this article explores.

Video, Audio, Webinars
July 12, 2018

Cambios en el Panorama de Control Migratorio Interno Durante la Administración Trump

Experts on this Spanish language webinar examine the operation of today’s interior immigration enforcement system and how state and local governments, civil society, and consulates are responding.    

Reports
July 2018

A Needed Evidence Revolution: Using Cost-Benefit Analysis to Improve Refugee Integration Programming

European countries have ramped up their investments in helping refugees find work and integrate into society. Yet little hard evidence exists of what programs and policies work best. This report proposes a new framework for thinking smartly about integration programming, using cost-benefit analysis to look beyond short-term, economic outcomes to also measure indirect benefits through a social-value concept.

Reports
July 2018

The Impact of Populist Radical-Right Parties on Immigration Policy Agendas: A Look at the Netherlands

While commentators proclaimed the 2017 Dutch election results a rebuff of radical-right populism, this report makes clear that electoral success is not the only way to influence policymaking. Taking the Netherlands as a case study, it examines how radical-right parties in Western Europe have shaped immigration policy agendas and outcomes by rewriting narratives and forcing mainstream parties further to the right.

Articles
June 29, 2018

In Upholding Travel Ban, Supreme Court Endorses Presidential Authority While Leaving Door Open for Future Challenges

Though the Supreme Court handed the Trump administration a major victory by upholding its much-contested travel ban, less noted has been the fact that the ruling left an opening for future challenges to the policy of barring groups of foreign nationals from the country. This Policy Beat explores the evolution of the travel ban, the justices' arguments for and against, and changes in visa grants from travel-ban countries.

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